


Behind closed doors

by Saoto



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-04-19 10:55:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14235744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saoto/pseuds/Saoto
Summary: When the Mighty Nein are sent to retrieve a stolen journal from a noble's mansion, Molly and Caleb get stuck in a room together and almost get caught. Well, a l m o s t .





	Behind closed doors

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea stuck in my mind and just did not know how to get there. But after rewriting everything, like, three times, I decided to just stick with it and hope someone likes it nonetheless~

If life had taught Mollymauk anything, it was that rich people could never be trusted. People with lots of unearned money, people in positions of high power – he knew from experience that they were never honest, they often wanted to see you dead, and they always expected more from you than they asked for. He did not like rich people – and nobles were the worst.

So when the Mighty Nein got hired by the errand boy of a local noble, to retrieve a stolen journal containing sensitive information the noble did not want to be found out, Molly got uneasy. It became worse when they were told that to retrieve the item, they had to infiltrate another noble’s mansion during a party the following day, a masquerade for the rich and mighty. The journal would probably be found there, as the host had always been jealous of their employer, trying to see him fall from grace. At least that’s what they had been told by the noble’s servant, and they had been promised a lot of money in return for their risky work – money that most of them desperately needed, given their tendencies to spend more than they should. But Molly could not care less. He just wanted to see this job done, maybe mess with some of the snobs there, have a few drinks and laughs, or at least watch the others come up with the weirdest disguises…

The plan had been simple: Enter the party, one way or another, gather some information on the mansion’s layout, and then search the building’s two stories while someone keeps the guards busy. They had talked and charmed themselves into the building, hiding behind masks and pretty outfits, which none but Molly and Jester were used to. Especially Caleb seemed out of place, his usual appearance now completely changed, with a handsome black swallowtail coat trimmed with dark, golden lace and a groomed beard the same colour as his combed-back, ginger hair. It was unusual, but as much as Molly liked the normal Caleb, he enjoyed seeing this flustered but strangely adaptable version of the man, even though his freckled cheeks and beautiful eyes were hidden behind a dark mask speckled with gilded pearls.

To everyone’s surprise, it had been Caleb who did most of the talking, to guests and guards alike during their search for clues and information. The clothes he wore seemed to change the whole impact of his words, which were usually perceived as awkward and gawky, and now seemed noble and snooty instead. People flocked to him like sheep, seeing him as one of them, what surprised Caleb even more than the rest of the Nein. If Molly hadn’t known it better, he’d have believed there was some magic at work. Instead, he just grinned, eyes fixed on Caleb’s strained lips whenever he was trying to talk to someone. It was fascinating. _Caleb_ was fascinating. More than ever, he caught Molly’s attention with every move he made, every gesture of his hands, every forced smile, every awkward curtsy. If they hadn’t been on a mission, Molly would surely have watched him the whole night with hawk’s eyes.

Yet like always, things did not go entirely according to plan. It took them much longer than anticipated to get the guards to talk and make room for them, so Fjord and Jester – disguised as a human couple – had to distract a guard by faking sickness, having Jester dramatically faint in front of the man. She was too dramatic with it, too theatrical – but it gave them a moment, a few seconds to spread out into the mansion from the guarded doors adjoining the vestibule, searching the rooms for what they had come for in the first place.

Out of the corner of his eye, Molly saw Nott and Beau dash up the stairs to the upper floor, where the bedrooms were located according to their collected information. The journal being stored there was one possibility – a private study or library was another, and that’s what Caleb and Molly were going for.

“This way,” he heard Caleb hiss in front of him, silently slipping through a half-open door leading to a weakly lit corridor. Dressed almost completely in black, he would have blended in with the shadows, if it wasn’t for his bright, ginger hair. But then again, Molly himself was the opposite of “unflashy”, dressed in way too many colours and more sparkling jewellery than he could count. So stealth was out of the question anyway. They had to be quick instead – quick and as persuasive as possible if found out. Besides, the others’ disguise spells wouldn’t work forever in any case, and then everything would get even more difficult. Their best option was to carry on with the plan – and be quick about it.

Mollymauk felt Caleb grab his arm, his fingers digging into the velvety fabric of his overcoat, as Caleb’s eyes turned bright and lifeless. He paused for a moment, silently moving his lips to formulate some words, and Molly immediately knew that he had summoned his adorable familiar and spied through his eyes.

“Next corridor, the third door on the right,” he muttered, his sight returning to his own eyes again as he dragged Molly out of their hiding spot to duck behind a huge statue of a naked man a few feet away. “That looks like it could lead to the library. I don’t see a guard patrolling, but we should still hurry.”

Molly simply nodded, a wordless “alright” on his lips, before they dashed into the adjoining corridor, down to the right and pushed through the door Caleb had indicated. Far away they heard the faint steps of someone moving in their direction when they shut the door behind them, breathing heavily, leaning back against the wall.

Caleb’s hand once again clasped the tiefling’s arm, this time simply to find someone to lean on; someone who could be his eyes in the dark and lead him. “Was I right? Where are we?” he whispered, his head turned to Molly as he took off his mask. The tiefling stared back at him, too fascinated by how much Caleb’s bright eyes seemed to shine even in darkness. “Is it safe to use dancing lights in here?”

Molly forced his gaze away from the man clutching his arm and studied what he could make out from the room. It was bigger than he had expected, and full of shelves containing different things. The clouds in the night sky must have shifted that moment, because a small ray of dim moonlight fell through the windows at the back of the room. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for his trained eyes to see that they had entered something that was used as a library and study, and perhaps also a kind of trophy room. He saw a few artefacts – some probably magical or imitations of such, and others archaeological findings like fossils and ancient cups. But more interesting were the shelves further in, which were stacked up to the ceiling with books of different shapes and colours. Caleb had been right in his guess, and Molly began to wonder if Caleb had actually smelled the books, or why else he had known about this simply from looking through a cat’s eyes.

“It’s safe,” Molly said, waiting until the steps outside could no longer be heard. “You were right in your guess as well – it _is_ a library! I’m impressed.”

“It said ‘library’ on the door, but I’ll still take that compliment,” he replied, a soft smile on his face as he snapped his fingers. Out came three small, glowing orbs of light, illuminating the room enough for him to see more clearly than in the sparse moonlight. Caleb took a few steps towards the shelves, letting his eyes scan all the objects and artefacts there, a spark of interest flashing over his face once in a while.

Molly paused a few seconds before he followed Caleb further into the room, watching him study some of the objects with a hint of temptation in his eyes. Well, if Caleb wanted to take any of these things with him, he would not try to interfere – he could not care less about some noble losing his stuff. All it would cause was some ruckus, hinting at the break-in that would be obvious anyway once the absence of the stolen journal was detected. Either that, or no one would even notice something had disappeared. Rich people often owned so much, they never even noticed a simple, missing thing. And if Caleb would be happy as well, he would have killed two birds with one stone. Jackpot.

When he came to a halt next to Caleb, who was already busy scanning the bookshelves, Molly did what Caleb had already done and loosened the straps of his mask, still held in place by a dozen golden pins in his curly hair. He quickly shoved the dark red mask in his coat pocket and leaned forward, following Caleb’s gaze.

“Do you think he’ll have the journal hidden on one of the shelves?” Molly muttered, his voice full of doubt as his fingers glided over the old and fractured spines of the books. Some of them looked extremely important, some even ornamented with golden patterns and letters – but none of them looked like the journal they were tasked to find. None of them were small enough to fit the description, or bound in gilded leather. Molly began to wonder if a study had perhaps been a terrible choice for their search – or if that had been the thief’s intention after all. Reverse psychology, or _reverse_ reverse psychology even. Or maybe he was thinking too much about this.

And yet…

He was getting suspicious of their mission, the more he thought about it. They had never even seen their employer. What if that was all just a big ruse to stage a break-in, to frame them for stealing something important and involving them in political intrigue. Molly did not trust rich people, especially if he had never looked them directly in the eyes; when he had never had the chance to seize them up and judge their character, face to face. Why had they even taken that job. Why…

“ _’Vox Machina_ ’,” Caleb next to him snorted and turned a thick volume bound in red leather in his hands, examining the golden letters on its cover. “ _’Tales of Exandria’_. I used to think their adventures sounded too much like myths, like a fairy tale, because I could not imagine how a group of people could stick together like this and save a whole continent. But apparently they were real.” He grimaced and put the book back, instead grabbing a thinner one from a different shelf. Molly leaned closer and placed his chin on Caleb’s shoulder so he could study the small, yellow book now placed in the hands of Caleb. The man did not even seem to pay attention to it anymore; he was distracted by something.

“ _’Tryst with the Devil’_?” Molly read out loud, eyeing the title with a raised brow. That sounded more like thriller or smut than anything – not that either of them was new to such works of fiction, but it seemed funny to Molly that Caleb was now clutching this book in his fingers, his body tensing up as Molly spoke so close to his ear. This was clearly not helping in their search for a noble’s journal. “Maybe not the best time to think about that kind of thing, though, even less to read this novel.”

“I wasn’t planning to—” Caleb returned louder than intended. Yet immediately he stopped. He pressed his lips shut, holding in his breath and listened as his head turned towards the door. Molly straightened his back and followed his gaze towards the entry to the library.

There had been steps coming closer, probably a guard or servant passing through the hallways. But these steps had stopped, and now it was silent. Caleb, almost pressed against him, tensed up and his lips mouthed a nearly inaudible “ _Scheiße!_ ”

Molly pulled him back, towards the wall between the shelves, and pushed him against it as the sound of the doorknob being turned made his heart almost skip a beat. Caleb, now stuck to the wall and between Molly’s arms, quickly flicked his fingers in a familiar motion, and the dancing lights dissipated – just in time, as the door slowly opened with a creak.

“Hello? Someone there?” a voice asked in a heavy east Tal’Doreian accent, and it sounded too scared to belong to a guard, Molly thought. Probably a servant. Not a good thing to be found by a servant when you’re sneaking around in a dark room full of important (or less important) books and artefacts, but definitely better than being found by a guard instead. With a servant he could deal. It was a lot easier to get _servants_ to ignore two men in fancy clothing, pressed against the wall and each other, hiding in the dark during a noble’s masquerade after having a few drinks and dances together. Walking in on different kinds of trysts was probably nothing new to a rich idiot’s poor servant.

There was a simple solution to this.

“Caleb,” he whispered, pressing the man further against the wall and noticed how his eyes widened in shock – maybe because of the unwanted intimacy, or maybe because of the footsteps coming closer. Probably both at once.

“I’m sorry to ask this of you, but _kiss me_.”

“What?” Caleb’s eyes were wide open, staring at Molly in confusion. The tiefling was not sure if Caleb understood where he was trying to get at. In the worst case he would have to pretend to have an intense make-out session with a petrified human, no big deal. He just wanted them to be distracting and embarrassing enough for the servant to turn on their heels. Like nudity, displays of sexual intimacy usually worked really well if you wanted to be left alone.

“Just do it!”

The footsteps were coming closer, though haltingly, and Molly bit his lip, narrowing his eyes at the petrified Caleb in front of him. If he did nothing, then Molly would just have to—

With a force he had not expected, two hands grabbed Molly’s face and pulled him downwards, lips crashing against his own with an unfamiliar intensity. Molly could feel Caleb’s hands on his cheeks almost trembling as one of them slid down his face to his neck and found its way around it, pulling Molly closer. The tiefling could not even register what was going on, though it had originally been _his_ plan to fake a make-out session of two nobles hiding away from the rest of the party. He had not expected Caleb to actually do something, and even less that he would do it with so much force and intensity… it surprised him more than he could say.

The sound of the footsteps seemed to fade out as Caleb’s fingers dug into Molly’s hair, grazing his horns and making the jewellery jingle. Molly’s body reacted out of reflex, his arms reaching for Caleb’s hips, and he leaned closer, pushing Caleb further up against the wall at his back. Caleb’s lips did not feel soft, nor did they taste like roses or ashes or fire, like Molly had once fantasised they would. They were rough and dry, and they tasted like cinnamon and honey. Molly suspected that was the fault of the strange pastries Jester had shoved into his mouth during their first few minutes at the masquerade, but he did not really care. The taste of cinnamon fit Caleb’s character – sweet and savoury, though sometimes slightly bitter. It was something he could easily believe Caleb would taste like, and honestly, it was amazing.

As Caleb’s right hand slid down his chest to crawl under the hem of Molly’s coat, his knees got weak. It was a simple touch, not even special, because really, there were many layers of fabric between them still, and they’d had far more intimate moments before. They had seen each other _naked_. But unlike then, this simple touch caused Molly’s heart to thumb like mad, and when he opened his eyes to watch Caleb’s face so close to his own, the flushed cheeks made it even worse. He had to stay focused, more or less, to keep up the distraction and not loose himself in the act, but it was getting harder with every second; with every single movement of Caleb’s lips on his own; with the shallow, hot breaths brushing his face; with the fingertips gently pressing through his shirt and against the back of his head, pulling at Molly’s curls. Caleb seemed to be surprisingly into this act, and he took Molly’s breath away in more than one way. In fact, he just wanted to stay like this, to take more of Caleb for himself, to let his hands slide down that lean body pressed against his own, to—

The silent gasp behind his back would have made him jump if he had not been so distracted by Caleb’s tongue finding its way into his mouth and by the butterflies going on a rampage in his stomach. The whispered curses and huffed apologies went completely over his head, and he only registered that the intruder had disappeared when the door shut with a loud noise, plunging the room into darkness again. Only the single beam of dim moonlight creating a silver spot on the floor lit the room, and when Molly finally pulled back to steady his breath, it was enough to see the hues of red all over Caleb’s flushed cheeks. His eyes were wide open, bright sapphires staring back at him, as he muttered “Molly” with so much gentleness and adoration in his voice that Molly wanted to jump right back at what they had been doing. He could see himself reflected in Caleb’s eyes, just as Caleb could probably see himself in his. And Molly really wondered how he could ever have thought that he did not want to create any kind of intimate bond with another person. How he could ever have thought that after he had met the Mighty Nein, and after he had grown closer to Caleb. How could he ever have thought that this handsome yet mysterious man in front of him would be anything less than important to him – less than kissable, even. _Really_ kissable. Desirable, more than anyone.

And then, all of a sudden, Caleb broke the spell; he quickly averted his gaze.

_Of course._

After this intense moment it would immediately get awkward. It did not surprise Molly, but in all honesty… it had been a bit too intense for just an act in his book. He, himself, would probably have kissed anyone like this if need be, but _Caleb_? No, it was still more than shocking that he had actually done as Molly had asked. Their ruse was a success, and immediate chaos had been averted for now. They had not much time left after this, that much was obvious. They had to continue their search for the journal. And they had to continue _immediately_.

But Molly did not move. He did not even blink. He just stared at Caleb, who’s gaze was fixed on the ground, his hands continuing to awkwardly hover over Molly’s shoulder and chest after releasing their grip. Molly was still holding Caleb in place, he noticed, and pulled back, no longer pinning Caleb to the cold, hard wall.

He had to say something. He had to stop this from getting even more awkward. He had to say something about it. He had to—

“ _Entschuldigung_. I, I overreacted.” Caleb’s voice still sounded out of breath, rough from the unaccustomed exertion. “I got lost in the, uh, moment.”

“It’s fine,” Molly drawled, and in fact, it was more than fine. He liked Caleb, he liked him a lot; but seeing him like this, so bashful and flustered, his limbs trembling as he tried to break away from his place at the wall – it was amazing because it was _new_ , and once again Molly felt like he had just not completely understood his fascination with Caleb before. Maybe there had even been more to the fleeting touches and hidden glances on _both_ of their sides, not only his own. Maybe the fact that Caleb had eventually started to come to him first when he needed reassurance or someone to lend an ear meant something; same as the moments when he needed a shoulder to lean on or just someone to sit and drink with him in silence. _Maybe_. Who was he to say yet, without knowing both sides of the story.

“I actually enjoyed it _a lot_ ,” he quickly added with a grin, trying to break the short moment of deathly stillness.

“ _Wenn du wüsstest_ …” Caleb muttered through gritted teeth and stumbled over to the next bookshelf, trying to hide the fact that he was still trembling. His cheeks were burning red, like the warm fire that seemed to have taken over Molly’s head and heart as well. It was strange, and unfamiliar, but if that was one way fire could feel like, he finally understood Caleb’s obsession with it now. Well, _figuratively_ , of course.

Molly’s hand reacted out of its own volition, he would later tell himself, as it reached for Caleb’s wrist and held on to it. Caleb did not turn around, neither wanted Molly him to. They had to finish what they had come here for, but still… The sudden loss of their bodies’ connection felt unpleasant, _unwanted_.

“No idea what _you_ just said, and I know _I_ talk a lot of bullshit sometimes, but I was being honest just now. I really did like it.”

Caleb grimaced even more, but then he sighed and looked back at Molly. “That is nice to hear, but it is not going to help us find that stupid journal, Mollymauk.” He was probably trying to sound focused, but his expression told Molly more than thousand words from that kissable mouth could.

“Of course,” he drawled and stepped up to Caleb, perusing the book titles like nothing happened, before he quickly turned to plant a kiss on Caleb’s cheek – just like this would be normal for them, like they always did this. Like they were not hiding in a mansion’s library on a secret mission after an unplanned make-out session. Like they did that every day. And to be honest, Molly would not say no to _actually_ doing that every day. He could get used to this.

“You’re too distracting though,” Molly added with a laugh and studied the books, as if he had not said a single word just now. Caleb’s gaze flickered to him once more, blue eyes narrowed above a half-annoyed-half-amused smirk.

“Says the one with the sparkly robes and far more shiny, golden pins in his hair than necessary. I got my hands caught in more than one of them, _glaub mir_.”

“You can gladly do that again, if you want to,” Molly returned with a grin, taking a step away from Caleb to search for a desk or something where it was far more likely that a journal was stored. Even if he would much rather run back to Caleb now and continue what they had accidentally started, there was a job that had to be done before that.

“Maybe I will,” Caleb muttered and followed him, and when Molly shot him a quick glance, he could have sworn the tension wavering through the air between them could be cut with a knife. Well. He would gladly take that tension and resolve it. Later. Not now. Not when—

“ _We have found the journal_ ,” Nott’s stagnant and almost-static voice sounded through their heads, taking them by surprise. “ _Let’s meet up in the hallway and leave_.” There was a short pause in which neither Molly and Caleb dared to open their mouths, before a second message reached their minds. “ _The journal is full of rich-people-smut by our boss_ ,” Nott’s voice continued to ring through their heads, and the goblin girl sounded caught between being irritated and about to start laughing. “ _He probably wants it back because Jester says it’s really badly written. You can reply to this_ —"

“You must be joking,” Molly snorted, interrupting the message, and noticed too late that this was the reply Nott was probably receiving now. He quickly added a simple “understood”, unsure if that message had made it back as well, and then turned to Caleb who looked both pleased and annoyed by that piece of information at the same time.

“Don’t tell me we dressed up like this to get ourselves into this mansion, sneaked around like thieves and… _made out_ … simply because that noble idiot didn’t want his terrible kinks and writing skills to be found out.” He huffed, shaking his head vigorously. “He’s probably even lent it to that other guy and then hired us because he chickened out.”

“Alright, then I’m not gonna tell you that,” Molly said and snorted, grabbing Caleb’s hand again. “But let’s sneak back _like thieves_ nonetheless and get out of here.” He paused, before he started walking and led Caleb through the darkness to the door. “We could also practice our distraction method for future occasions once we’re back at the inn,” he added with a grin and pushed the door open, glancing around and found nothing suspicious.

He simply heard the amused laugh behind his back as they passed through the corridor, back towards the vestibule they had come from.

“ _Practice_. Sure.” Then he paused.

“I’d like that.”

**Author's Note:**

> The original version of this actually ended with the noble telling them that he just misplaced the goddamn journal and overreacted like a living cliché, but in the end I decided that the old version was even more stupid than the new one and said byebyeee to it.
> 
> Translation of the German phrases:  
> "Entschuldigung" = "Sorry"  
> "Wenn du wüsstest..." = literally "If only you knew...", but more in a sarcastic "You have no idea, dude" way.  
> "..., glaub mir" = "believe/trust me"


End file.
